Klebsiella ozaenae septicemia associated with Hansen's disease

Two cases of Klebsiella ozaenae septicemia from the National Hansen's Disease Center, Carville, La., are discussed: one fatal and one nonfatal. Although both patients had nasal complications of Hansen's disease (leprosy), the organism was grown initially from spinal fluid, blood, and wound cultures. This report confirms the potential pathogenicity of the K. ozaenae species and its widening disease spectrum.